Metal sheets, such as tin-plated steel sheets and electrolytic chromium coated steel sheets referred to as tin-free steel sheets, are used for various metal cans, such as beverage cans, food cans, pail cans, and 18-liter cans. In particular, tin-free steel sheets are produced by subjecting steel sheets to electrolysis in a coating bath containing hexavalent Cr, and have excellent humid resin adhesion to a resin, such as a paint, coated thereon.
In recent years, in response to growing environmental awareness, there has been a worldwide trend toward restricting use of hexavalent Cr, and there has also been a demand for alternative materials to tin-free steel sheets produced using a coating bath of hexavalent Cr.
On the other hand, various metal cans have been conventionally manufactured in such a manner that metal sheets, such as tin-free steel sheets, are painted and then formed into can bodies. In recent years, in order to reduce waste associated with manufacturing operations, a method has come to be frequently used in which a resin-coated metal sheet that is not painted but is coated with a resin, such as a plastic film, and formed into a can body. In the resin-coated metal sheet, the resin needs to strongly adhere to the metal sheet. In particular, resin-coated metal sheets used for beverage cans or food cans are required to have excellent humid resin adhesion such that the resin does not peel off even in a high-temperature and humid environment because the cans may be subjected to a retort process, in some cases, after contents have been packed therein, and are also required to have excellent corrosion resistance such that the cans are prevented from being corroded and pierced by the contents of the cans or the like even when the resin partially peels off owing to being scratched or the like.
Under these requirements, the present inventors have recently proposed, in Patent Literature 1, that it is possible to produce a coated steel sheet having very excellent humid resin adhesion and excellent corrosion resistance, without using Cr, by depositing a corrosion-resistant coating composed of at least one layer selected from the group consisting of a Ni layer, a Sn layer, an Fe—Ni alloy layer, an Fe—Sn alloy layer, and an Fe—Ni—Sn alloy layer on at least one surface of steel sheet, and then depositing an adhesive coating to a resin to be coated thereon by performing cathodic electrolysis in an aqueous solution which includes ions containing Ti and further includes ions containing at least one metal element selected from the group consisting of Co, Fe, Ni, V, Cu, Mn, and Zn.